In this Wiki I will be talking about Organisational Culture. I will cover topics such as the characteristics of it, different companies approach's to organisational culture, strong vs. weak organisational culture, the effects organisational culture has on managers and employees, research into organisational culture and to conclude, in the discussion section, I will be drawing all aspects of this Wiki to a conclusion of whether Organisational Culture is New? Whether it is a Trend? And finally whether it is a Management Practice.
Definition
Organisational culture, otherwise known as corporate culture, encompasses the shared values, beliefs, behaviours and assumptions which make up the social and psychological environment of an organisation and dictates how employee’s behaviour is governed. These shared values hold a large influence over the people in the organisation, and outlines how they should act, dress and perform in their specific job roles. Each organisation develops and maintains a unique culture specific to that organisation; it provides guidelines and boundaries for the behaviour of the employees (McLaughlin, 2003). Organisational culture is shown in the ways a firm conducts business, treats its employees and customers. It is also clearly seen in the extent to how much freedom subordinates are given for decision making, development of new ideas and personal expression. Furthermore, it is shown in how power and information flow through the hierarchy of the business, and finally, it is seen in the level of commitment employees have towards collective objectives (Business Dictionary, 2017).
“Content analysis revealed that characteristics of Organisational Culture could either alleviate or aggravate stress, depending on employees’ perception and attribution” (Chang and Lu, 2007).
Companies approach to organisational cultures
Every business, whether knowingly or not, has an organisational culture; some businesses may outline theirs in their mission statement and some may just adopt a certain approach that becomes the norm and employees conform to this organisational norm and thus an organisational culture is created. Furthermore, many businesses will publicise their organisational culture if it is a selling point for their organisation in terms of recruitment and retention of employees, for example, Google. The relaxed working environment of Google comes from the innovation encouragement from managers to their subordinates.
This video explains the depths Google is willing to go in order to create the best organisational culture for the employees.
In contrast to Google’s organisational culture many businesses have a strict organisational culture; these businesses are predominantly business that deal in the financial industry as a stricter work culture is needed due to the lack of need for innovation. For example, the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), this business is a regulatory body for the financial industry. Given that it is a Government body organisation it is clear to have a stricter organisational culture than that of the above example of Google. Directors and Managers must set a clear example for the subordinates in terms of how they conduct themselves in meetings and day to day life in the office. Not much talking occurs unless cross team collaboration is occurring for a project, the attire is formal, suits and business dress is the norm from Monday to Thursday with the option of dress down Friday unless you have meetings; if this is the case you are expected to continue with business dress on Fridays. However, unlike Google’s idea of a percentage of time being allocated a week for employees to come up with their own ideas, FCA employees work consistently on set projects until such time they finish and they must then submit their ideas of new projects to their managers and start immediately.
Categories of Culture
In the book ‘Organizational Culture and Leadership’ written by Edgar H. Schein, there are different categories proposed in relation to culture of businesses and their leadership styles. These four culture are shown below. (Schein, 2010)
Strong vs. Weak organisational culture
A culture is strong when there is clear structure around the beliefs, behavioural rules, traditions and rituals of the business. A strong culture will usually feature these attributes publically so that the employees of the business can use these elements in order to make clear decisions throughout the organisation. A strong culture in a business will include:
More than one strong leader who emphasizes the need for the beliefs, behavioural rules, traditions and rituals that are associated with the customer needs, strategic direction and the competitive environment the business operates in,
The commitment of the organisation to operate in a direction lead by the culture,
And finally, a high commitment to support the key stakeholders of the business
A weak culture can be identified when its beliefs, behavioural rules, traditions and rituals are not clear to the employees. This can happen due to many reasons, for instance, having little or no knowledge of what the organisation stands for or if the employee does not know the norm for how business is conducted. Weak cultures work against the success of the company (Aquinas, 2008)
Effects of organisational cultures
Effects on the management
In small businesses, managers may be forced into a disciplinarian role in order to police the problems that arise from the organisational culture, for example, correcting the behaviour of an employee or the beliefs and values they hold. Verbal and written warnings are common for a manager to issue in this role in order to overcome the problems. Furthermore, managers in this type of a job role have difficulty in creating interpersonal relationships with their subordinates as they are seen as an authority figure as opposed to a co-worker. However, in small businesses, a disseminated leadership culture can be established in order to counteract the idea of seeing a manager as an authority figure. Managers in this model achieve a far more relaxed working environment and interactions with employees as they are seen more human than authoritative.
A manager must be a role model for the culture in the organisation and set examples of how the employees should act. A manager must be versatile due to the culture of an organisation very rarely staying the same over time, cultures of organisations shift, and thus the manager must be able to adapt to the new cultures as opposed to being stuck in a certain routine (Lister, 2017). Given managers are expected to set an example to their subordinates of organisational culture, as a management practice, Organisational Culture can be time consuming in the sense that managers have a large responsibility to make sure that no one in their team feels outcast from the culture or is revolting against areas such as the dress code.
Effects on the employees
The effects on the employees of organisational culture is based around the retention of said employee, for example, if the they do not fit in well with the beliefs and values set out by the business in its organisational culture, they are more likely to resign in order to find a better fit; this is usually only stopped by motivators such as money. In the study ‘Organizational Culture and Employee Retention’, John E. Sheridan investigated the retention of around 900 college graduates who were hired in 6 accounting businesses over a six year period. The organisational culture varied throughout the 6 firms. Sheridan found that these variations had a direct link with the retention of these new employees. Furthermore, the values of the organisational culture caused a significant variation in terms of the relationship between the performance and the retention of the employee. The cultural effects were far more prioritised in comparison to the combined exogenous influences of the demographic characteristics of the new employees and the labour market. These cultural effects caused a $6 million difference in the HR departments between the 6 firms. (Sheridan, 1992)#
Research and models
Geert Hofstede
Some of the most influential research and models provided about organisational culture comes from Professor Geert Hofstede. Hofstede’s research “found that national cultures differ mainly at the level of basic values; and organizational cultures differ more at the level of practices” (Morrison, 2008, pp. 134-134). Hofstede built upon the idea he proposed in his international business paper in 1994 “The Business of International Business is Culture” to create the six dimension theory. In 1999 Hofstede released his theory which identified the six basic dimensions of organisational culture which highlighted the different management practices; these are:
Process-orientated vs. Results-orientated cultures- process-orientated cultures are technical and bureaucratic whereas results-orientated cultures are concerned with the outcomes.
Job-orientated vs. Employee-orientated cultures- in job-orientated cultures, the concern for the employees are related only to the work they do, however, in employee-orientated cultures the overall wellbeing is taken into consideration.
Professional vs. Parochial cultures- in professional cultures, identification of employees is based on their expertise while in parochial cultures the emphasis is placed on the organisation they work for.
Open systems vs. Closed system cultures- communication is easy with those inside and outside the firm and to newcomers in open system cultures, on the other hand, in closed system cultures there are barriers to communication with outsiders and newcomers.
Tightly vs. Loosely controlled cultures- formalities and procedures are strictly controlled in tightly controlled cultures whereas in loosely controlled cultures a far more relaxed approach is taken. This dimension is based on the industry the business works in.
Pragmatic vs. Normative cultures- finally in pragmatic cultures a flexible approach to dealing with outsiders and customers, is adopted whereas normative cultures are rigid in these dealings.
(Morrison, 2008, pp. 135-135)
Edgar H. Schein
Edgar H. Schein proposes that culture is the most difficult attribute of an organisation to change, trumping organisational products, services, founders and leadership and all other physical attributes of said organisation. His model for organisations exposes culture from the point of the observer. It is comprised of three levels: Artifacts, espoused values and the basic underlying assumptions.
The first level of Schein’s model is the attributes that can be felt, seen and heard by the observer; collectively these are known as artifacts. These ‘artifacts’ include facilities, offices, furnishings, visible awards and recognitions, the dress code of the members, visible interactions with each other and with outsiders to the organisation, company slogans, mission statements and other operational beliefs.
The second level deals with the values. These refer to the preferences of the individuals in terms of the organisation’s culture, for example, loyalty and customer service. In this level of the model, values such as local and personal values are expressed in the organisation. The beliefs of individuals include the impressions of one another and the trustworthiness and supportiveness of the organisation; these are often deeply ingrained in the organisations culture. It is usual at this stage for the organisational behaviour to be studied by interviewing the members of the organisation by use of questionnaires in order to gather the data about the attributes of organisational membership.
At the third and final level or Schein’s model, the organisation’s assumptions can be found. These are the areas of the culture that are not cognitively seen in the everyday interactions of the members of the organsiation. Many of these unspoken/unwritten rules exist subconsciously in the knowledge of the members. It takes time for the members to acclimatize themselves to these attributes but this only comes with sufficient experience. In-depth means are required in order to draw out these attributes and understand the organisation’s culture; questionnaires and interviews do not work. This level of culture is the underlying and driving element of an organisations culture and it is often missed by organisational behaviourists.(Schein, 2010)
The Paradigm- this element is a set of assumptions regarding the organsiation. This element is held in common by the members of the organisation and is taken for granted.
The Routine- this is the ways in which the members of the organisation behave in regards to one another and the link between the separate departments of the organisation. This idea of the “way we do things around here” lubricates the working inside the organisation; furthermore, it provides a distinctive and beneficial organisational competency. However, it can also represent being taken for granted in terms of the way things should be done, this is hard to change and highly protective of the core assumptions of the paradigm.
The Rituals- rituals of an organisational life, for example, training programmes, promotions and assessments point to the importance in the organisation, reinforcements of the “way we do things around here” and identify what is especially valued.
The Stories- this element refers to the stories told by members of the organisation to one another to outsiders, recruitment agencies etc. These stories embed the present in its organisational history and identify the important events and personalities.
Other Symbolic Aspects- these aspects are of the organisation, for instance, the logos, offices, cars and titles, or the language and terminology that is commonly used. These aspects become a short-hand representation of the nature of the organisation.
The Formalised Control Systems- these are measurements and reward systems that monitor and therefore emphasise what is important in the organisation and therefore focus attention and activity on them.
Power Structures- these elements are also likely to be associated with the fundamental constructs of the Paradigm. Values such as the core assumptions and beliefs about what is important are likely to be associated with the powerful managerial groupings.
The formal organisational structure- this element is based on the formal or informal ways in which the organisation works, it is likely to reflect the structure of power and, again, outline the important relationships and thus emphasising what is important in the organisation. (Johnson and Scholes, no date)
(Wrote, 2012)
Robert A. Cooke and Janet L. Szumal
In their paper ‘Using the Organizational Culture Inventory to Understand the Operating Cultures of Organizations’, Robert A. Cooke and Janet L. Szumal define culture as the behaviours that members of an organisation believe are required to fit in and meet the expectations of the organisation. In this paper, Cooke and Szumal identify twelve behavioural norms that are grouped into three general types of cultures, these are:
Constructive Cultures- in this culture, members are encouraged to interact with people and approach tasks in ways that aid them to achieve their higher-order satisfaction needs. The behavioral norms of this culture are:
Achievement Norms- members of the organisation are expected to set themselves realistic goals, establish a plan in order to achieve their goals and pursue them with enthusiasm.
Self-Actualizing Norms- members are expected to enjoy and take pride in their work, develop as a person and willingly take on new and interesting assignments.
Humanistic Encouraging Norms- members are expected to be supportive, constructive and open to influence in their dealings with other members
Affiliative Norms- members are expected to be friendly, sensitive and cooperative in the satisfaction of their group work.
Passive/Defensive Cultures- in these cultures, members believe they must interact with people in a manor not to threaten their own security. The behavioural norms of these cultures are:Aggressive/Defensive Cultures- members in these cultures are expected to approach tasks in forceful ways to protect their status and security. The behavioural norms of these cultures are:
Approval Norms- members of the organisational culture are expected to agree with the incorporation and approval of new members and to be liked by others.
Conventional Norms- conformity of members is expected, they are also expected to follow the rules and make good impressions.
Dependent Norms- members are expected to do as they are told by superiors and clear decisions with their superiors.
Avoidance Norms- when problems arise it is expected that members shift responsibility to others in an attempt to avoid being blamed.
Aggressive/Defensive Cultures- members in these cultures are expected to approach tasks in forceful ways to protect their status and security. The behavioural norms of these cultures are:
Oppositional Norms- members are expected to be critical in their opinions and oppose the ideas of others. Furthermore, they are expected to make safe decisions.
Power Norms- it is expected that members take charge, control their subordinates and yield to demands of their superiors.
Competitive Norms- members are expected to operate in a “win-lose” framework, outperform others and work against their peers as opposed to working with them.
Perfectionistic Norms- members are expected to appear competent, keep a track of everything and work long hours in order to achieve narrowly-defined goals/objectives.
(Cooke and Szumal, 1993)
Discussion
Organisational culture is defined as the collection of the shared values, beliefs, behaviours and assumptions that make up the social and psychological environment of an organisation. As previously said, whether knowingly or not, every business has an organisational culture, this is because every business has values, beliefs etc. that employees must live up to. It is clear that organisational culture is therefore a very strong trend, however, despite slight differences in these shared values from business to business, these trends are categorised far better in terms of different countries due to these shared values and beliefs being shaped and moulded by the social norms of different countries. Furthermore, as previously said, the organisational culture of a business can be either relaxed (in terms of the Google example) or strict (in terms of the financial sector, and more specifically, the FCA). Having a more relaxed approach to an organisational culture is becoming a greater trend than that of a strict organisational culture, even businesses operating in countries where the stricter working environments are favoured, for example, Alibaba has a more relaxed working environment in comparison to the majority of companies in China. Furthermore, as proposed by Robert Cooke and Janet Szumal, in their paper ‘Using the Organizational Culture Inventory to Understand the Operating Cultures of Organizations’, constructive cultures are become a far more sought after trend of organisational culture than that of passive/defensive and aggressive/defensive cultures due to these types of culture encouraging employees to do what they feel is best for them to gain the best results.
Organisational culture can be clearly defined as a management practice based upon the idea that managers are expected to set the example to their subordinates of the organisational culture, whether that being how to act in the working environment, what to wear etc. Furthermore, theorists tailor their research based on the idea of it being a management practice, for example, in Professor Geert Hofstede’s paper “The Business of International Business is Culture”, he explains that the six dimensions that make up his theory are that of the different management practices and approaches to organisational culture. Furthermore, Edgar Schein describes organisational culture as one of the most dominant themes in management studies to emerge in the past decade. However, despite Edgar Schein explaining it being a dominant theme in the past decade, organisational culture was around before the term ‘Organisational Culture’ was coined. This is because businesses have always had a shared set of values and beliefs that they have stuck to since their start-up, whether it being their dress code, the way they act in regards to their customers or even how they act to one another in the workplace. In terms of it being a trend in businesses it is new as Schein explains, but as a concept in itself, organisational culture is not new.
References
Aquinas, Pauleeda G. Organization structure and design: Applications and challenges. New Delhi: Excel Books (2008)
Chang, Kirk and Lu, Luo ‘Characteristics of organizational culture, stressors and wellbeing’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, (6), 2007, pp. 549–568.
Cooke, Robert A. and Szumal, Janet L. ‘Measuring normative beliefs and shared beliefs and shared behavioural expectations in organizations: The reliability and validity of the organizational culture inventory’, Psychological Reports, 72(3c), 1993, pp. 1299–1330.
Johnson, Gerry and Scholes, Kevan (no date) Strategy Explorers: MAPPING AND RE-MAPPING ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE: A LOCAL * GOVERNMENT EXAMPLE. [Online] Available at: http://www.strategyexplorers.com/whitepapers/Culture-Web.pdf [Accessed 24 January 2017].
Lister, Jonathan ‘Organizational culture’s effects on a manager’s role’, Small Business Chron, 2017.
Table of Contents
What is Organisational Culture?
Introduction
In this Wiki I will be talking about Organisational Culture. I will cover topics such as the characteristics of it, different companies approach's to organisational culture, strong vs. weak organisational culture, the effects organisational culture has on managers and employees, research into organisational culture and to conclude, in the discussion section, I will be drawing all aspects of this Wiki to a conclusion of whether Organisational Culture is New? Whether it is a Trend? And finally whether it is a Management Practice.Definition
Organisational culture, otherwise known as corporate culture, encompasses the shared values, beliefs, behaviours and assumptions which make up the social and psychological environment of an organisation and dictates how employee’s behaviour is governed. These shared values hold a large influence over the people in the organisation, and outlines how they should act, dress and perform in their specific job roles. Each organisation develops and maintains a unique culture specific to that organisation; it provides guidelines and boundaries for the behaviour of the employees (McLaughlin, 2003). Organisational culture is shown in the ways a firm conducts business, treats its employees and customers. It is also clearly seen in the extent to how much freedom subordinates are given for decision making, development of new ideas and personal expression. Furthermore, it is shown in how power and information flow through the hierarchy of the business, and finally, it is seen in the level of commitment employees have towards collective objectives (Business Dictionary, 2017).Characteristics of organisational culture
Kirk Chang and Luo Lu established that organisational culture has four main characteristics in their journal ‘Characteristics of Organizational Culture, Stressors and Wellbeing- The Case of Taiwanese Organisations’. These four characteristics are:- Family-kin
- Informal work obligations
- Organisational loyalty
- Subgroup involvement
“Content analysis revealed that characteristics of Organisational Culture could either alleviate or aggravate stress, depending on employees’ perception and attribution” (Chang and Lu, 2007).Companies approach to organisational cultures
Every business, whether knowingly or not, has an organisational culture; some businesses may outline theirs in their mission statement and some may just adopt a certain approach that becomes the norm and employees conform to this organisational norm and thus an organisational culture is created. Furthermore, many businesses will publicise their organisational culture if it is a selling point for their organisation in terms of recruitment and retention of employees, for example, Google. The relaxed working environment of Google comes from the innovation encouragement from managers to their subordinates.This video explains the depths Google is willing to go in order to create the best organisational culture for the employees.
In contrast to Google’s organisational culture many businesses have a strict organisational culture; these businesses are predominantly business that deal in the financial industry as a stricter work culture is needed due to the lack of need for innovation. For example, the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), this business is a regulatory body for the financial industry. Given that it is a Government body organisation it is clear to have a stricter organisational culture than that of the above example of Google. Directors and Managers must set a clear example for the subordinates in terms of how they conduct themselves in meetings and day to day life in the office. Not much talking occurs unless cross team collaboration is occurring for a project, the attire is formal, suits and business dress is the norm from Monday to Thursday with the option of dress down Friday unless you have meetings; if this is the case you are expected to continue with business dress on Fridays. However, unlike Google’s idea of a percentage of time being allocated a week for employees to come up with their own ideas, FCA employees work consistently on set projects until such time they finish and they must then submit their ideas of new projects to their managers and start immediately.
Categories of Culture
In the book ‘Organizational Culture and Leadership’ written by Edgar H. Schein, there are different categories proposed in relation to culture of businesses and their leadership styles. These four culture are shown below.Strong vs. Weak organisational culture
A culture is strong when there is clear structure around the beliefs, behavioural rules, traditions and rituals of the business. A strong culture will usually feature these attributes publically so that the employees of the business can use these elements in order to make clear decisions throughout the organisation. A strong culture in a business will include:A weak culture can be identified when its beliefs, behavioural rules, traditions and rituals are not clear to the employees. This can happen due to many reasons, for instance, having little or no knowledge of what the organisation stands for or if the employee does not know the norm for how business is conducted. Weak cultures work against the success of the company (Aquinas, 2008)
Effects of organisational cultures
Effects on the management
In small businesses, managers may be forced into a disciplinarian role in order to police the problems that arise from the organisational culture, for example, correcting the behaviour of an employee or the beliefs and values they hold. Verbal and written warnings are common for a manager to issue in this role in order to overcome the problems. Furthermore, managers in this type of a job role have difficulty in creating interpersonal relationships with their subordinates as they are seen as an authority figure as opposed to a co-worker. However, in small businesses, a disseminated leadership culture can be established in order to counteract the idea of seeing a manager as an authority figure. Managers in this model achieve a far more relaxed working environment and interactions with employees as they are seen more human than authoritative.A manager must be a role model for the culture in the organisation and set examples of how the employees should act. A manager must be versatile due to the culture of an organisation very rarely staying the same over time, cultures of organisations shift, and thus the manager must be able to adapt to the new cultures as opposed to being stuck in a certain routine (Lister, 2017). Given managers are expected to set an example to their subordinates of organisational culture, as a management practice, Organisational Culture can be time consuming in the sense that managers have a large responsibility to make sure that no one in their team feels outcast from the culture or is revolting against areas such as the dress code.
Effects on the employees
The effects on the employees of organisational culture is based around the retention of said employee, for example, if the they do not fit in well with the beliefs and values set out by the business in its organisational culture, they are more likely to resign in order to find a better fit; this is usually only stopped by motivators such as money. In the study ‘Organizational Culture and Employee Retention’, John E. Sheridan investigated the retention of around 900 college graduates who were hired in 6 accounting businesses over a six year period. The organisational culture varied throughout the 6 firms. Sheridan found that these variations had a direct link with the retention of these new employees. Furthermore, the values of the organisational culture caused a significant variation in terms of the relationship between the performance and the retention of the employee. The cultural effects were far more prioritised in comparison to the combined exogenous influences of the demographic characteristics of the new employees and the labour market. These cultural effects caused a $6 million difference in the HR departments between the 6 firms. (Sheridan, 1992)#Research and models
Geert Hofstede
Some of the most influential research and models provided about organisational culture comes from Professor Geert Hofstede. Hofstede’s research “found that national cultures differ mainly at the level of basic values; and organizational cultures differ more at the level of practices” (Morrison, 2008, pp. 134-134). Hofstede built upon the idea he proposed in his international business paper in 1994 “The Business of International Business is Culture” to create the six dimension theory. In 1999 Hofstede released his theory which identified the six basic dimensions of organisational culture which highlighted the different management practices; these are:- Process-orientated vs. Results-orientated cultures- process-orientated cultures are technical and bureaucratic whereas results-orientated cultures are concerned with the outcomes.
- Job-orientated vs. Employee-orientated cultures- in job-orientated cultures, the concern for the employees are related only to the work they do, however, in employee-orientated cultures the overall wellbeing is taken into consideration.
- Professional vs. Parochial cultures- in professional cultures, identification of employees is based on their expertise while in parochial cultures the emphasis is placed on the organisation they work for.
- Open systems vs. Closed system cultures- communication is easy with those inside and outside the firm and to newcomers in open system cultures, on the other hand, in closed system cultures there are barriers to communication with outsiders and newcomers.
- Tightly vs. Loosely controlled cultures- formalities and procedures are strictly controlled in tightly controlled cultures whereas in loosely controlled cultures a far more relaxed approach is taken. This dimension is based on the industry the business works in.
- Pragmatic vs. Normative cultures- finally in pragmatic cultures a flexible approach to dealing with outsiders and customers, is adopted whereas normative cultures are rigid in these dealings.
(Morrison, 2008, pp. 135-135)Edgar H. Schein
Edgar H. Schein proposes that culture is the most difficult attribute of an organisation to change, trumping organisational products, services, founders and leadership and all other physical attributes of said organisation. His model for organisations exposes culture from the point of the observer. It is comprised of three levels: Artifacts, espoused values and the basic underlying assumptions.The first level of Schein’s model is the attributes that can be felt, seen and heard by the observer; collectively these are known as artifacts. These ‘artifacts’ include facilities, offices, furnishings, visible awards and recognitions, the dress code of the members, visible interactions with each other and with outsiders to the organisation, company slogans, mission statements and other operational beliefs.
The second level deals with the values. These refer to the preferences of the individuals in terms of the organisation’s culture, for example, loyalty and customer service. In this level of the model, values such as local and personal values are expressed in the organisation. The beliefs of individuals include the impressions of one another and the trustworthiness and supportiveness of the organisation; these are often deeply ingrained in the organisations culture. It is usual at this stage for the organisational behaviour to be studied by interviewing the members of the organisation by use of questionnaires in order to gather the data about the attributes of organisational membership.
At the third and final level or Schein’s model, the organisation’s assumptions can be found. These are the areas of the culture that are not cognitively seen in the everyday interactions of the members of the organsiation. Many of these unspoken/unwritten rules exist subconsciously in the knowledge of the members. It takes time for the members to acclimatize themselves to these attributes but this only comes with sufficient experience. In-depth means are required in order to draw out these attributes and understand the organisation’s culture; questionnaires and interviews do not work. This level of culture is the underlying and driving element of an organisations culture and it is often missed by organisational behaviourists.(Schein, 2010)
Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes
In Gerry Johnson’s and Kevan Scholes paper ‘Mapping and re-mapping organisational culture: a local Government example’, their theory about culture is introduced and explained. Their idea is called ‘The Cultural Web’ which consists of 8 elements, these are:Robert A. Cooke and Janet L. Szumal
In their paper ‘Using the Organizational Culture Inventory to Understand the Operating Cultures of Organizations’, Robert A. Cooke and Janet L. Szumal define culture as the behaviours that members of an organisation believe are required to fit in and meet the expectations of the organisation. In this paper, Cooke and Szumal identify twelve behavioural norms that are grouped into three general types of cultures, these are:(Cooke and Szumal, 1993)
Discussion
Organisational culture is defined as the collection of the shared values, beliefs, behaviours and assumptions that make up the social and psychological environment of an organisation. As previously said, whether knowingly or not, every business has an organisational culture, this is because every business has values, beliefs etc. that employees must live up to. It is clear that organisational culture is therefore a very strong trend, however, despite slight differences in these shared values from business to business, these trends are categorised far better in terms of different countries due to these shared values and beliefs being shaped and moulded by the social norms of different countries. Furthermore, as previously said, the organisational culture of a business can be either relaxed (in terms of the Google example) or strict (in terms of the financial sector, and more specifically, the FCA). Having a more relaxed approach to an organisational culture is becoming a greater trend than that of a strict organisational culture, even businesses operating in countries where the stricter working environments are favoured, for example, Alibaba has a more relaxed working environment in comparison to the majority of companies in China. Furthermore, as proposed by Robert Cooke and Janet Szumal, in their paper ‘Using the Organizational Culture Inventory to Understand the Operating Cultures of Organizations’, constructive cultures are become a far more sought after trend of organisational culture than that of passive/defensive and aggressive/defensive cultures due to these types of culture encouraging employees to do what they feel is best for them to gain the best results.
Organisational culture can be clearly defined as a management practice based upon the idea that managers are expected to set the example to their subordinates of the organisational culture, whether that being how to act in the working environment, what to wear etc. Furthermore, theorists tailor their research based on the idea of it being a management practice, for example, in Professor Geert Hofstede’s paper “The Business of International Business is Culture”, he explains that the six dimensions that make up his theory are that of the different management practices and approaches to organisational culture. Furthermore, Edgar Schein describes organisational culture as one of the most dominant themes in management studies to emerge in the past decade. However, despite Edgar Schein explaining it being a dominant theme in the past decade, organisational culture was around before the term ‘Organisational Culture’ was coined. This is because businesses have always had a shared set of values and beliefs that they have stuck to since their start-up, whether it being their dress code, the way they act in regards to their customers or even how they act to one another in the workplace. In terms of it being a trend in businesses it is new as Schein explains, but as a concept in itself, organisational culture is not new.
References